On The Far End Of The Black
by Lily Anna Evans Potter
Summary: Set during 7.18: The entire extended James family is back in Tree Hill for Lydia's funeral. On the idyllic day her ashes are to be scattered, emotions run high and Quinn and Taylor's relationship is still more fractured than they let their mother believe. Quinn has Clay in her corner but through her guilt of being a lousy sister, even Taylor finds comfort with her favorite brother.


**On The Far End Of The Black**

Their parents hadn't spent a lot of time in Tree Hill since Haley graduated high school and settled into her own family life, but it was home at the end of the day. There was no doubt that Lydia's intention with her detailed funeral arrangements had been to throw overwhelming nostalgia in all their faces, Quinn James thought to herself, scanning the mournful crowd of her massive family. It was mid-October and the weather was too gorgeous for such a miserable occasion. As Lydia's last wishes had dictated, the memorial service was being held at Kennedy Park. It was one of the oldest parks in Tree Hill and the service was taking place by a secluded little lake very few visitors even knew existed.

It was cut off from the sprawling lawns making up the rest of the park by ornate stone archways, supported by thick pillars with vines twisting artfully around them. Two wide steps and an expanse of stone tiling separated the lake from the arches in front of which the final prayers were taking place, but Quinn could still smell the blossoms from the trees leaning over the water's edge.

The entire James clan had made it back to Tree Hill for the funeral and the little clearing was packed to bursting point. Highly uncomfortable plastic chairs were arranged in a large semi-circle around the make-shift altar where the priest stood beside the urn containing Lydia's remains, reciting all the typical funeral prayers. The blue china urn made a fresh lump swell painfully in Quinn's throat and she glanced wistfully at the empty seat on her left. Unfortunately, Clay had warned her in advance that he would have to be late to the service.

Eventually she tore her gaze away from the urn and instead examined the impressive gathering: The eldest James siblings, twins Vivian and Jake, had taken the seats right next to the altar on one side. Vivian had her face buried in her eight year old daughter Emily's curly brown hair and the little girl was staring sadly at her father for support. Jake meanwhile, looked much older than his thirty-seven years in that moment. His expression was disturbingly blank but Quinn could see his hands shaking even from this distance. She smiled sadly across at him when Jake's wife and daughter took one each in their grasp and held on tightly. Jake and his wife Natasha had shocked Lydia and Jimmy by getting pregnant at the young age of seventeen, but their now nineteen year old Elizabeth had somehow turned out just fine.

Quinn's gaze drifted further down the line and at the sight of Jamie wiping the tears from Haley's cheeks, Quinn found herself wondering how it must have felt to her parents to have their oldest and youngest children become teen pregnancy statistics. Nathan's arm slid firmly around her baby sister's shoulders and once again, Quinn wished Clay was beside her right now. On Nathan's other side, the look on Taylor's face suggested she felt equally alone despite the crowd. Moving on from the painful sight, Quinn observed Brooke leaning on Julian's shoulder with a grave expression and Mouth with Millicent sitting solemnly beside him. Next was her second oldest brother, Nick. With their two daughters Cassandra and Jenna between them, he and his wife Laura formed a grim-faced quartet of blondes at the curve of the semi-circle.

The sea of blonde heads continued to Quinn's surprise with Jamie's class teacher Lauren, breaking the line of family members briefly with her wide-eyed sympathetic expression. On Quinn's immediate right sat the youngest of her three brothers, Frank. Like his namesake, their Uncle Frank, he had reddish hair and at that moment eyes to match. On his other side sat his eight year old son Josh, whispering something to his mother Katherine as she consoled five year old Benjamin on her lap, the younger boy's own seat abandoned.

With a sigh, Quinn leaned over and laced her slender fingers into her brother's trembling hand. "Doesn't feel real, does it?" she said softly, nodding at the altar where the urn stood pulling the focus of the entire gathering.

Frank's lips were pressed tightly together as he mutely shook his head. "It feels as surreal as it did when she showed up in Charlotte two months ago with the news," he murmured bitterly. "I feel like I failed somehow by not being able to do anything about it…some doctor I am."

"Frankie stop that, you're not a cancer specialist," Quinn pointed out sternly. She glanced across the wide circle at Haley, whose face was now horribly emotionless as she pressed a kiss to Jamie's supportive hand. "Hales made Nathan get a second opinion from a colleague of the Bobcats' team doctor, there was no hope," she sighed. "That's all anyone could do, you know…hope. It just wasn't enough in the end."

"I'm glad her last days were here in Tree Hill anyway," he confessed. "This is where it all started for our family. I just kind of wish there was a happier reason for everyone to be together again."

"Me too," Quinn agreed. "At least her stay here was eventful." She stared across at Taylor, slouched in misery beside Nathan and Haley. "She was so shocked when I told her Taylor hooked up with David."

"She did what?" Frank gaped at her, his loud whisper earning him a glare from the priest.

"He broke up with her eventually but that was all after my divorce was official anyway," Quinn said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She observed the sunlight glinting off the silver rim of her mother's urn for a moment and blinked rapidly. "I'm just glad she got to meet my new boyfriend and approved of him as much as Nathan," she added waveringly.

Frank laid a soothing hand on her shoulder; "That's seriously high praise," he said. "Where is that amazing boyfriend of yours anyway?" he asked, motioning at the vacant seat on her other side.

But Quinn was no longer listening, at the sudden crunch of the gravel path leading to this clearing she leapt up hopefully. "Right there," she whispered, leaning into Clay's apologetic embrace before he could even take a seat.

"Sorry I'm late," he said quietly and Quinn shook her head and nuzzled wearily against the padded shoulder of his jacket.

"Doesn't matter, the hardest part is still to come," she said shakily. As if to prove her right, the prayers concluded suddenly. When Quinn looked up, the priest was motioning Jake forward to the altar to carry the urn to the lake to disperse the ashes.

Her oldest brother looked worn out, Quinn thought as she watched him take a deep breath and visibly draw strength from Natasha's loving gaze. Jake hugged the urn to his chest tightly but motioned to the crowd to stay seated as he cleared his throat to make an announcement. "Okay, listen up everyone," he started, with the faintest hint of a smile when Elizabeth gave him a firm thumbs up from her seat. "I know it's traditional for the oldest son to scatter the remains in the lake, but here's a question for you: When has our family ever stuck to the conventional way of doing things?" At that a weak chuckle rippled through the audience and Jake stood up straighter, encouraged by his family's support. He looked away from his wife's proud smile for the first time to gaze fondly at Haley, now leaning on Nathan's shoulder. "Mom started her journey of goodbyes in New York with Vivian's family and then mine, but it was always clear that she would finish up here in Tree Hill. Did you get the line from her, Haley Bob?" Clinging to Clay's hand as her sister sat up straight and stared at Jake, Quinn watched the puzzled frown on Haley's face deepen. But Jake didn't give her time to ask what line he was referring to. Still smiling feebly, he elaborated; "Mom wasn't one for blatant favoritism, but she was always brutally honest," he told the listening crowd to nods of agreement from some of his siblings. "Even way back at the beginning of this surreal round trip to say…goodbye to all her children, it was totally typical Mom."

Jake paused and ran a hand over his eyes, his composure slipping visibly with a sudden shaky gasp. Natasha exchanged a concerned look with her daughter and paced over to where he stood by the altar. "Say it," she urged gently; "You can do it, honey."

Her perfectly manicured nails were a glaring red as her hand clamped supportively down on his shoulder and Jake's watery eyes met Haley's curious gaze. "She said," he tried again; "that on this round of goodbyes, she planned to start with the oldest and finish with the best."

Tears sprung instantly to Haley's eyes as she shrugged Nathan's arm off and joined Jake and Natasha in the center of the circle. "She said the same thing to me," Haley breathed miserably. "What does that mean, J.J?"

The weak smile had obviously become impossible, as Jake pulled his youngest sister into his arms and squeezed her tightly. "It means," he said heavily; "that you should be the one to scatter the ashes."

"What?" Haley squeaked in shock and went extremely pale. "Jake, that's crazy! I-I'm not the glue," she stammered as the tears began to roll freely down her cheeks once more. "I'm not the glue," she choked again; "Mom was!"

"I know, baby," Jake sighed, rubbing her back consolingly as the strangled sobs turned desperate. Quinn glanced across at Nathan's worried expression, who had Jamie nuzzled miserably on his lap and was watching the scene unfolding before them in obvious anguish. Flashing him a strained smile, she pulled reluctantly away from Clay's embrace and moved towards the altar too.

"I've got this," she mouthed at Jake and he stepped back into Natasha's waiting arms in obvious relief. Quinn closed her eyes as Haley leaned into the soothing hug, outright gasping through the sobs by this point. "Hey, you listen to me very carefully, okay?" she said softly. "You don't have to be the glue, Hales. This family is our glue and we can do this, together!"

She pressed a kiss into her sister's hair as the sniffles subsided; "I can't do this, Quinnie," Haley moaned.

"Yes, you can," Quinn insisted. "Because I'll be right there with you, I promise."

From the sidelines, Nick James watched Haley crumble with a heavy heart. He could sense Laura's gaze on him, ever-ready for some kind of meltdown but he didn't think it would come, oddly enough. Cassie nuzzled against his shoulder affectionately and he slid his arm gratefully around her. "I don't think I've ever seen Uncle Jake cry," she noted softly, staring across the circle. Vivian had left her husband and daughter huddled together and was now clinging to her twin brother like a life-line, predictable.

"Being the oldest can be a curse," Nick explained in a hushed voice, watching the priest approach the twins with a basket of white roses. "Uncle Jake and Aunt Vivian feel like they have to be brave for everyone else. That's why they always end up together when it gets too hard."

Suddenly there was a muffled wail from Taylor's seat and Cassandra leaned around her father to see Nathan staring after the brunette as she bolted from the gathering with her hands over her eyes. "Who does Aunt Taylor have?" she asked Nick. "Everyone needs a special person."

"Right you are, Cass," he agreed, returning Laura's encouraging smile with difficulty. "Aunt Taylor's got me…I'll be right back." Taylor had taken off around the perimeter of the circle and stumbled down the two stone steps to the lakeside by the time Nick followed. She was standing still as a statue by the water's edge and had her arms tightly folded across her chest when he stepped up behind her. "You've mastered the art of self-hugging there," he joked weakly and she aimed a glare at him which didn't have even close to the desired effect because her lips were quivering pitifully.

"I'm used to it," she snapped bitterly. She stared through the raised stone archway a few paces behind them, where the rest of the family was just about visible in the distance. "Look at them," she said miserably, nodding at the group nearest to the arches. Quinn was standing tall with obvious difficulty; one hand clinging to Clay's arm while Haley leaned her head against Quinn's other shoulder wearily. Jamie was nuzzled into the folds of his mother's thick black coat with Nathan squeezing his shoulders from behind. "Nobody likes Taylor," she whispered, the words allowing tears to well in her eyes at last.

"Mom did," he corrected her gently. When she refused to look at him, Nick simply enveloped her trembling figure in his arms. "And I do, you know that."

Taylor wiped her eyes furiously and tried to glower at him once again, with no better luck than the first time. "If that were true you would have given us a warning that Mom was dying!" she said loudly, shrugging him off her furiously.

"No, I wouldn't," he said calmly, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Mom swore us all to secrecy; nobody was going to break her rules. She wanted to break the news to everyone on her own terms."

Taylor's fists clenched and shuddered at her sides. "It's not fair," she hissed. "How come she got to make the choice to just give up? What about us, huh?"

"She called it acceptance," he said slowly. "It wasn't giving up."

"Who cares what we call it? She's still gone forever," Taylor retorted. "And Quinn probably still hates my guts for screwing up her marriage. Haley will always side with her, that whole forgiveness thing at the hospital was obviously a show so that Mom could die in peace."

"Do you honestly believe that?" he asked skeptically. "I've never seen Quinn hold a grudge in my life and that's including the Dan Thomson debacle by the way."

"Way to remind me what a lousy sister I am," Taylor groaned. She leaned wearily into his arms at last, too emotionally drained to fight the comfort of the one always in her corner.

"You're not," he said softly but Taylor was already lost in thought and ignored the words.

_June 2001 – Prom Night_

"_Are you sure about this?" Dan Thomson pressed skeptically. Eighteen year old Taylor James flashed him a flirtatious grin from the passenger side of his truck. "Quinn is your sister," he reminded her when she leaned across the gear stick and trailed a single finger teasingly across his chest.  
><em>

_"That depends on if you want a James girl who can show you a good time or not," she winked. "Look, I know my sister. Quinn will never put out for you, that's a fact. The real question is what you're looking for in a girl. Cut her loose and I'll show you the real deal," she promised, inching closer with every word. "Just imagine what sex with a senior could do for your reputation." __Dan glanced at the front door of the James family home, in front of which the truck was currently parked, and gulped. The Ravens basketball team was dominant at Tree Hill High and that meant his position as the football team's star quarterback didn't demand nearly as much respect as it did at most high schools he knew of. "What are you waiting for?" Taylor practically purred in a challenging tone. She jerked her head at her house's front door; "My Mom is baking today, if you hurry and tell Quinn the prom scene isn't for you tonight, we can have some fun in the back of her car," she said suggestively. "I promise you won't forget it."_

"_What's the catch?" he asked, narrowing his deep brown eyes suspiciously at her. "I can't believe you would ruin your own sister's prom for no reason."  
><em>

_"No catch," Taylor said a little too sweetly. "Stop being such a wuss, Thomson, last chance," she warned him. "There are plenty of bigger fish for me to fry if you really don't want to tap this."  
><em>

_"I hate metaphors," Dan grumbled, raking an agitated hand through his mop of brown hair. But he finally stepped out of the truck and approached the James house, while Taylor ducked slyly out of sight of the front door. Through the kitchen window, Dan caught Lydia James' eye and returned her welcoming wave reluctantly. He flinched when the front door flew open just as he reached it; Lydia had obviously alerted Quinn to his presence.  
><em>

_"You're early," his date protested shrilly, one hand still holding a curling iron to her shoulder-length brown hair. With one half stylishly curled and the other cascading poker-straight down her back, Quinn looked so strange that he would have laughed if the guilt wasn't twisting his insides in knots. A blush crept to Quinn's cheeks, so that her face soon matched the pale pink sequins dotting her smart black top. "Oh God, you weren't supposed to see the work in progress," she giggled obliviously. "What are you doing here, Dan?"_

_Her pale blue eyes were sparkling with genuine excitement, a stark contrast to Taylor's seduction techniques. Feeling slightly nauseous, Dan braced his hand against the doorframe and blurted out the words as fast as it was possible to still be coherent. "I changed my mind about the dance tonight," he said and watched the grin slide off her face as if a switch had been flipped. "I don't want to go anymore…um, sorry." Before he could say anything else, the curling iron fell from her slack grip and hit the floor with a clatter. Bright red in the face, Quinn knelt down to pick it up and hugged the tongs closely to her chest. Her knuckles whitened with the sheer force of how hard she was squeezing it, but Dan noticed the slight trembling of her fingers anyway and waited patiently for her to speak. "Please don't throw that thing at me," he joked half-heartedly when she remained silent and Quinn shook her head without looking him in the eye. "For whatever it's worth, you look really pretty. Are we cool?"_

_Quinn folded her arms tightly across her chest, still clinging to the curling iron like a life-line. Sucking in a shaky breath, she lifted her gaze and stared into his apologetic hazel eyes for a split second before a solid lump wedged in her throat. "You need to go," she said as calmly as possible considering it felt like her heart was being ripped in half. "Bye Dan."  
><em>

_"Quinn, I-," he stammered, but she had already turned on her heel and slammed the door in his face. "I'm sorry," he said softly to the closed front door. Taylor wandered over to him with a triumphant smirk just as the faint whimpers began to drift through the now open kitchen window. When the elder James girl dragged him over to the driveway and unlocked her mother's car, Dan still had the image of Quinn sobbing in Lydia's arms imprinted in his mind._

"Quinn has no reason to forgive me," Taylor moaned, the words muffled by how hard her head was pressed against her brother's shoulder. "It was all a show for Mom, I'm telling you."

"Stop saying that, Tay," he said sternly, gripping her shoulders firmly once more, so that he could force eye contact. Taylor and the twins were the only ones who had inherited their father's dark eyes and Nick couldn't make out any emotion except regretful anguish on her face as she stared at him with single tears streaking defiantly down her cheeks. "Of course it wasn't for show, silly girl. And I'll tell you how I know that too...she's your sister, no matter what happens," he finished simply. "You guys need each other right now…we all do, understand?"

"No, I don't," she said flatly. "I don't understand how Mom could just decide to give up on treatment. I still need her here and she's just…gone!"

"I know," he said sadly and pressed her shaking figure closer, drawing as much comfort from her desperate embrace as he was providing to her. "Quinn will forgive you; trust me on that, okay?"

Taylor shifted slightly in his arms and closed her eyes, drowning out the indistinct chatter of the crowd gathering around them by focusing on his thudding heartbeat. But before she could say a word, Laura appeared at Nick's side and squeezed his shoulder. "Jen has something for you," she told him, with an encouraging smile at the nine year old clinging to her hand with uncharacteristic shyness. "Hand it over, honey…it's okay."

"I got you a rose, Daddy," his daughter said, pressing the white flower into his hand. "The priest says we have to put them in the water, so Grandma has pretty flowers with her wherever she goes."

"Thanks, princess," he sighed, dropping a kiss to the top of her shoulder-length blonde hair.

He shot Laura a curious look while Jenna hugged him tightly, wondering how a funeral could have turned their relatively progressive nine year old so child-like all of a sudden. His wife grimaced at him, holding her hand out to Jenna again with a shrug. "Come on, Jen," she urged. "Lizzie is gathering all you kids at the start of the line-up, over there." She ushered her younger daughter towards Jake and Natasha's teen, throwing Nick a sympathetic glance over her shoulder. "I'll be right back, stay there," she told him. He nodded stiffly; dark blue eyes sweeping over the huddle Elizabeth already had Cassandra in, along with Frank and Katherine's two boys.

The rest of the family had swarmed towards the motionless lake very abruptly, so that Laura soon found herself trapped between Lizzie's group of four youngsters and Frank's wife at one end of the row of mourners. Katherine's pale blue eyes darted anxiously down the stiff row of black-clad family and friends, before she gave up trying to locate Frank and folded five year old Ben into her arms.

"Drop your flower in the water, baby," she instructed gently, prying his clenched fist open as she spoke. "It's one last present for Grandma. Do it like Lizzie, see?" She pointed out over the water, where Elizabeth's flower was already half-submerged. When the clingy little boy didn't budge, she stepped around him to drop her own rose into the water. A side-ways glance at Lizzie revealed the tall brunette standing with one hand each on Josh and Cassie's shoulders. Twelve year old Cassandra had silent tears streaming down her face and when Josh had let his rose drift away, Katherine watched the shaking blonde hug her older son as if her life depended on the contact. "Hold still," Katherine mouthed warningly at the eight year old, whose expression was positively scandalized as Cassie clung to him in the unexpected burst of affection. Josh frowned at his mother's demand over Cassandra's shoulder, but his stubby fingers awkwardly patted the top of the high pony she had her curls pulled back in.

"I don't want Grandma to go," Ben mumbled, drawing Katherine's attention back to him. The five year old's tiny fist was still clenched around the stalk of his white rose and she suppressed a sigh at the misery on his face.

"Nobody does, kiddo," she told him softly, trailing her fingers soothingly through his mop of ginger hair. A muffled groan coming from somewhere down the line distracted Katherine from her mission of coaxing the flower from her son's hand just then. Past Laura and Jenna, Jamie was the only one besides Vivian's daughter who had opted to stay with his father instead of joining Lizzie's little group. Next to Nathan stood Taylor, with her arms tightly folded across her chest, she stood conspicuously apart from Quinn and Haley. The latter had her head resting on Quinn's shoulder and was clutching the urn containing Lydia's ashes tightly in the folds of her thick, black winter coat. Separated from them by many friends in attendance, Katherine found the source of the noise and felt her heart clench. As she expected, the devastated moan had come from none other than Frank. She watched gratefully as Nick pushed past an unfamiliar blonde woman, dropping his own rose into the lake before hugging his younger brother.

"Kathy, look!" Laura's voice cut into her musings suddenly, sounding proud and excited. She turned to face her sister in-law and found Nick's wife pointing at the water's edge with a smile. Jenna was crouching close to the edge of the lake, watching her rose float out over the water to mingle with the many white specks dotting the surface of the water.

Ben was kneeling next to her, and her fingers clasped his wrist encouragingly as the two women watched. "Now let go on three, okay?" she told him. "You don't want to be the only one who didn't give Grandma a flower, do you?" The five year old shook his head vigorously and Jenna smiled sadly at him. "That's what I thought…okay, ready? One…two…three and drop it!"

"Do you think it'll reach her?" Ben asked softly, watching the many roses bobbing in the lake skeptically.

"Of course it will," Jenna said confidently, but she couldn't quite manage a smile anymore. She turned and tugged on Cassie's sleeve, prying her sister off Josh, whose face was now bright red. "Cassie, tell Ben the flower will reach Grandma, please?" she begged, side-stepping the older girl to stand next to Josh. "Hi there, Mr. Tomato Head," she giggled at his frustrated scowl. "Can I get a hug too?"

"Only if you take that back," he told her seriously, tugging at the small black bowtie around his neck with an annoyed huff. "Ugh, this thing totally sucks…you're so lucky you get to just wear a dress."

"You want to wear a dress?" Jenna teased and he hit her arm playfully. "Hey, that's mean," she protested. "No hitting girls allowed!"

"Then shut up," he grumbled, but his dark blue eyes were troubled as he stared down the line at his father. "I've never seen my Dad like this, it's scary," he said grimly. "I don't wanna lose Mom or Dad anytime soon."

"I don't think anything will happen to them," Jenna replied reassuringly, tucking a loose strand of hair thoughtfully behind her ear. "Grandma was really sick, that's why she had to go away." She followed Josh's gaze and saw her father staring at Taylor with a deep frown. There was pin-drop silence throughout the group of mourners when Haley finally straightened up and lifted the lid off the blue china urn. In no time at all, the ashes caught a gust of wind and scattered across the lake with the whole crowd watching Lydia James become one with the earth and sky.

Still clinging to the empty urn with both hands, Haley doubled over as soon as the ashes vanished from view. Standing somewhere behind her with his wife, she could vaguely feel Jake's hands squeezing her shoulders and Quinn linking her arm on the left to hold her upright, but none of it was enough. "Haley," Quinn choked hoarsely, afraid her own knees might buckle at any second with how violently they were trembling.

Her baby sister had crumpled so suddenly it was impossible to hold her up, but then Taylor crouched on Haley's other side and hugged her protectively. "Thank you for not pushing me away," she whispered, one arm folded against her chest out of habit while the other draped across Haley's shuddering shoulders. "I really want to be a good sister again, I mean it."

A shooting pain spread through Quinn's palm when her fist subconsciously clenched at the sight. Looking down, she realized Haley's devastation had distracted her so much she had forgotten to drop her rose in the water and the flower's thorns had pierced her skin. "Damn it," she hissed and shut her eyes to quell the jealousy bubbling up from the pit of her stomach.

"You okay?" Clay's hand was warm as it pressed gently against her back when she bent towards the water. "Your nephew over there needed quite a bit of convincing to drop his flower."

"He's five," Quinn pointed out wearily, but as soon as she met his sympathetic gaze, the tears sprung to her eyes. "It's just a flower; this should not be so hard."

"It's what the flower symbolizes that counts," he pointed out wisely and kissed her damp cheek. "Do you want to try letting go on the count of two? It always worked for me."

"You'd share Sara's thing with me?" she asked in awe. "That's…pretty intense."

"It was my Dad's thing before I made it Sara's thing," he shrugged dismissively, feeling himself go red when she continued to stare at him in wonder. "It was just a thought; you don't have to do it. I just figured-,"

"I'm honored," Quinn cut in, stroking the rose petals against his cheek. "And I love that I can make you babble," she smiled in spite of how heavy the flower suddenly felt in her hand. "If that's insanely in love, I'll take it."

"That's totally insanely in love," Clay nodded and Quinn took a deep breath and raised the hand holding her rose. "One…two," he counted for her and she threw the flower as hard as she could across the water. "How did that feel?"

Quinn mutely shook her head and slid her arms around him as her knees began to feel weak and shaky again. "Awful," she moaned and pressed her head against his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Where else would I be right now, you goof?" he smiled, squeezing her trembling figure tightly. "You got through it, it only gets easier from here."

"I'll take your word for it," Quinn sighed, leaning into the firm embrace and letting Clay's warmth fill her up. "I think the family is gathering at Nathan and Haley's for dinner tonight. I'm really not in the mood to face Taylor anymore today."

"You want to bail?" he asked with a knowing twinkle in his dark blue eyes. "There's food at the beach house, that's why I was late. It was going to be a surprise," he said sheepishly.

"You are a surprise, Clay Evans," she said, offering him a tired smile. "That's the best proposal I've had today, it's a date."

"The Chinese take-out guy will be happy," he laughed and pressed her close to him as they walked away from the lake. "You'll be okay, Q," he vowed. "I'll make sure of that."

The majority of the funeral crowd had dispersed by the time Clay and Quinn left the lakeside, but not all had left Kennedy Park. Taylor had taken off down one of the joggers' common paths and was walking briskly, trying in vain to deny the tears pricking the corners of her vision. At one point the path split and branched off up a flight of stairs to a hillier green field. Just as Taylor passed the stone steps, Laura came charging down them, seemingly out of nowhere and planted herself in the distraught brunette's path. "What the hell, Laura?"

"Had to make you stop running away somehow," the blonde said simply, smiling over Taylor's shoulder. Wiping her eyes, Taylor turned around and bit her lip at the sight of Nick leading his girls down the path. "Nick was looking for you, we have a proposition for you."

"Is that so?" Taylor retorted, almost annoyed by her sister in-law's unrelentingly kind gaze. "What might that be?"

"Come back to Raleigh with us," Nick cut in, enveloping the surly brunette in a tight hug when he reached her. "Laurie and I talked about it; we really want you to stick around for a while. You've always been into the solitary life. Couldn't you make an exception, just this once?"

"Nicky, I-," she began, but found the protest sticking in her throat at the pain suddenly more visible in his eyes than it had been all day. "I didn't think anybody wanted me around," she trailed off feebly.

"You're such a nutcase, Tay," he said fondly, as Jenna and Cassie's hands pressed their father and aunt into a firmer hug. "I not only want you around…I need you around, okay? Please come home with us."

"Okay," she said softly, releasing him to drag her nieces into a group hug while Laura looked on proudly. For the first time all day, Taylor found herself distracted from the devastation of losing Lydia and whatever negative feelings Quinn may or may not have had towards her. "I'll be there, I promise."

**A / N I've actually been working on this one-shot for about a year, just before the flashback I lost my inspiration once and it took forever to get it back. I love Lydia's storyline in season 7 but wish the brothers had played a more prominent role, so this happened. Enjoy! xx**


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